Of the 123 million women age 16 years and over in the U.S., 72 million, or 58.6 percent, were labor force participants—working or looking for work.

Women comprised 47 percent of the total U.S. labor force.

Women are projected to account for 51 percent of the increase in total labor force growth between 2008 and 2018.

66 million women were employed in the U.S.--73 percent of employed women worked on full-time jobs, while 27 percent worked on a part-time basis.

The largest percentage of employed women (40.6 percent) worked in management, professional, and related occupations; 32.0 percent worked in sales and office occupations; 21.3 percent in service occupations; 5.2 percent in production, transportation, and material moving occupations; and 0.9 percent in natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations.

The largest percentage of employed Asian, white, and black women (46.1 percent , 40.6 percent, and 33.8 percent, respectively) worked in management, professional, and related occupations. Hispanic women showed their strongest attachment to service occupations at 33.2 percent.

The unemployment rate for all women was 8.6 percent and for men it was 10.5 percent. Among female race/ethnic groups, Asian women continue to have the lowest unemployment rate of 7.5 percent. For white women, it was 7.7 percent; Hispanic women, 12.3 percent; and black women, 13.8 percent.

The median weekly earnings of women who were full-time wage and salary workers were $669, or 81 percent of men’s $824. When comparing the median weekly earnings of persons aged 16 to 24, young women earned 95 percent of what young men earned ($422 and $443, respectively).

The 30 occupations with the highest median weekly earnings among women who were full-time wage and salary workers were--

Women accounted for 51.5 percent of all workers in the high-paying management, professional, and related occupations. Here is just a sample of these occupations where women were the larger percentage of those employed:

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, January 2011, Annual Averages.

For women age 25 and over with less than a high school diploma, 33.5 percent were labor force participants; high school diploma, no college, 52.4 percent; some college, but no degree, 62.3 percent; associate degree, 70.6 percent; and bachelor’s degree or higher, 72.4 percent.